The Permanent Oncology Table is also born in Liguria, to improve assistance to cancer patients and find new solutions to implement the activities of the Ligurian Oncology Network. A working table, therefore, made up of representatives of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM), Senior Italia FederAnziani and local institutions. The agreement was made during the Ligurian leg of the virtual tour that is bringing AIOM and FederAnzianii to meet all the regional health councilors of our country. “In our Region the population is decreasing but at the same time the number of elderly people is growing – says Francesco Quaglia, Director General of the Health and Social Services Department of the Liguria Region -. We must therefore manage a difficult socio-health situation and obviously aggravated by the Covid emergency. We are ready to collaborate with clinicians and patients to improve healthcare in our area “.
An active and functioning network, but assistance on the territory must be strengthened
The Oncological Network of Liguria has been active for several years and has recently received positive reviews from AGENAS. “Furthermore – underlines Paolo Pronzato, Coordinator of the Network – it has demonstrated its efficiency in the last year when, despite the pandemic, anti-cancer treatments have almost always been guaranteed. However, there are some aspects on which we still have to work to strengthen assistance especially in the most remote and isolated areas of our territory ”.
The Network is centered on a large hub which is the San Martino Hospital, interconnected with the other centers. “The integration with local medicine and more generally the preparation of all health professionals who must assist cancer patients during the entire treatment process must be perfected”, explains Manlio Mencoboni, Regional Coordinator AIOM Liguria: “We live in fact in a long and narrow Region, in which internal movements are sometimes difficult.
Little staff: funds are needed for specialists
In Liguria as well as in other regions there is a problem of lack of medical personnel. “Cancer is a disease that is becoming more and more chronic and the number of cases per year is increasing”, says Giordano Beretta, Aiom National President: “This leads to an increase in the workload for oncologists, who, however, do not an increase in scholarships for specialists is paid. This is even more evident in an ‘elderly’ Region such as Liguria and therefore investments in training must be increased ”.
An increasingly elderly population
All the demographic indicators show that in the next 10-15 years we will have an exponential increase in the elderly and therefore adequate socio-health interventions must be planned. “Cancers in 50% of cases affect those over 70 who today, thanks also to scientific research, can have a good chance of defeating the disease”, concludes Roberto Messina, National President of Senior Italia FederAnziani: “It therefore becomes fundamental for this category of patients a good care in the area after the administration of the therapies. A regional network can guarantee a better integration between hospital and territorial medicine. This is why we are committed to promoting these health facilities throughout the national territory “.